Dhobighat : A Smart Move

Dhobighat has paved way for a whole new genre of elegant, intelligent and artistic movie making. I think the movie is quite a smart move by the veteran actor from a business perspective. Aamir is known for being very selective and so we get to see his movies once in a year or once in two years. Apart from a terrific performance by the seasoned actor, what a viewer expects in an Aamir Khan movie is the flavor of surprise...'what is it this time?' and the star lives up to this expectation by leaving a distinctive mark each time. In that sense Dhobighat is yet another feather in his cap. He's done a cameo role in the movie well a docudrama to be precise and this is the surprise this time.

Aamir has a huge fan following in all age brackets in India and abroad. No matter what the reviews are, his fans are bound to flock to the theaters. Such is the hysteria of an Aamir Khan movie. It might be difficult to say whether you like Dhobhighat or not but you'll definitely agree, it's different. The plot doesn't give the opportunity to Aamir to display his brilliance, but then does that really matter? He's a living legend of Indian Cinema and will always be which means that Dhobighat has no effect on his image and absolutely no negative repercussion on his future endeavors. With Dhobighat, Aamir has cashed in on his iconic image. It's a home production and what has been spent on the movie seems like peanuts and it actually is as compared to the revenues. Unlike his other mega budget movies wherein he pockets crores of rupees, the cash inflow from movies of this ilk is like an additional income. Further, with Dhobhighat, he launches his wife Kiran Rao as a director capable of making intelligent and unconventional movies which is again an icing on the cake. It's a win-win.

But the question now arises, can Aamir afford to gamble every time? One cannot overlook the fact that entertainment lies at the core of Indian cinema. Experiments can win critical acclaim, but to appeal to the masses, they have to be slowed down unless it is a particular segment they wish to target. And being the astute business man that he is, Aamir definitely has this in hindsight and we can expect more offbeat yet appealing products from his factory in the future.

Addicted To Love

Aaahhhhh!!!I am in love with 'love the way you lie'. It's a beautiful song that captures the madness, the high, the low, the torture that love manifests. Rihanna's ultimate lyric 'just going to stand there and watch me burn'  amalgamates beautifully with Eminem's schmaltzy lines. To write something so corny, one has to actually be madly and deeply in love. If you carefully listen to the lyrics, you will get a feel of a passionate but destructive love affair. In medical terminology, this kinda relationship is called 'addictive relationship' wherein the couple just can't end the relationship despite knowing that it is bad for them. In most of the cases, the woman is suffering from what is called 'battered woman syndrome', wherein she gets used to the abuse and pain that the partner inflicts but then one fine day she calls it quits only to get into the relationship again after her partner apologizes. He doesn't mean it, but he ain't lying either. The couple is caught up in a cycle of falling in and out of love with the each other. Such co-dependent and addictive relationships are more common than known in couples today. Em has done a great job. The mental state of the abuser couldn't have been put better in words. The abused too knows what sets off her partner and this gives her a feeling of control over him. Such kinda relationships are highly dangerous. It is like being on the zenith of love at one time and the abyss of depression at other. Rihanna's mind-piercing soul-touching sensuous voice accompanied by Em's rap, make the impact bang on! It's disappointing, such a stupendous effort couldn't make the cut in the Grammys. But you've gotta listen to this one guys...

The link-
Love the way you lie

and the lyrics-

[Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.


[Eminem]
I can't tell you what it really is.
I can only tell you what it feels like.
And right now, it's a steel knife in my windpipe.
I can't breathe, but I still fight while I can fight.
As long as the wrong feels right it's like I'm in flight.
High off her love, drunk from my hate, it's like I'm huffin' paint.
And I love it, the more I suffer, I suffocate.
And right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me,
She fuckin' hates me, and I love it.
"Wait, where you goin'?"
"I'm leavin' you!"
"No you ain't! Come back!"
We're runnin' right back, here we go again!
It's so insane, cause when it's goin' good, it's goin' great.
I'm Superman with the wind at his back, she's Lois Lane.
But when it's bad it's awful, I feel so ashamed.
I snap, "Who's that dude? I don't even know his name."
I laid hands on her, I'll never stoop so low again.
I guess I don't know my own strength.


[Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie.


[Eminem]
You ever love somebody so much, you can barely breathe.
When you with 'em you meet, and neither one of you even know what hit 'em.
Got that warm fuzzy feeling, yeah them chills used to get 'em.
Now you're getting fuckin' sick of lookin' at 'em.
You swore you'd never hit 'em, never do nothin' to hurt 'em.
Now you're in each other's face, spewin' venom in your words when you spit 'em.
You push pull each other's hair, scratch claw,
Hit 'em, throw 'em down, pin 'em, so lost in the moments when you're in 'em.
It's the rage that's the culprit, controls you both.
So they say it's best to go your separate ways.
Guess that they don't know ya, 'cause today, that was yesterday.
Yesterday is over, it's a different day.
Sound like broken records playin' over,
But you promised her, next time you'll show restraint
You don't get another chance.
Life is no Nintendo game, but you lied again.
Now you get to watch her leave out the window.
Guess that's why they call it window pane.


[Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie.


[Eminem - Verse 3]
Now I know we said things, did things, that we didn't mean.
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine.
But your temper's just as bad as mine is, you're the same as me.
When it comes to love you're just as blinded.
Baby please come back! It wasn't you, baby, it was me!
Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems.
Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano.
All I know is I love you too much, to walk away though.
Come inside, pick up the bags off the sidewalk!
Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk?
Told you this is my fault, look me in the eyeball!
Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the dry wall!
Next time? There won't be no next time!
I apologize, even though I know it's lies!
I'm tired of the games! I just want her back! I know I'm a liar!
If she ever tries to fuckin' leave again,
I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire!
Just gonna


[Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie...

Movie Review: Yeh Saali Zindagi

Jhatackkkk fatackkkk!!!Writer-director Sudhir Mishra serves a sparkling cocktail with this fast paced contemporary guns and roses story that not only gives the viewers food for the brain but also tickles them with raunchy humor. Irfan Khan once again steals the show with the trophy lady by his side.( Lucky he! Be it Konkana in Life In A Metro or Ilene in Rog or Chtraangda in Yeh Saali Zindagi, he turns out to be 'the' man for the betrayed and distressed damsels!)

Every character in the movie is a psychotic male or female driven either by power or by money or by love or by lust! And to add to the frenzy, they are more than a hundred in number which is quite a challenge for the memory! Replete with swear words, the movie proceeds with a series of fast paced events converging to a web of fraud, treason, kidnapping and desire. The catchy title song in the background in Sunidhi's sensual voice adds leverage to the narrative. The end however seems like a misfit in the sense that it becomes fairy-tale like with everything falling right in place leaving a happily-ever-after feel. The scene where the bullet misses the target, hits a pole from where it is unexpectedly deflected to a third party is quite dramatic and unrealistic(Would have been very normal had it been a Rajni movie:D). Every character has performed to the hilt. Arunoday Singh seems quite promising and Chitraangda, well this unconventional dusky beauty is here to stay in Bollywood. All n all , the movie is worth a dekko.

Just a helping hand: In case you are lost with the names...

Arun- Irfan Khan- Our hero
Priti-Chitrangda- Our heroine
Shaam-Vipul Gupta- The spineless guy our heroine seems to be in love with
Kuldeep- Arunoday Singh- Kidnapper and striving-to-be good man
Shanti-Aditi Rao-Kuldeep's wife
Mehta-Kallu mama fame Saurabh Shukla
Bade-Yashpal Sharma- The gangster in jail
Chhote- Prashant Narayanan-Bade's chhota bhai
Verma- The politician
Satbeer-Jungle fame Sushant Singh- The cop

Pyaari maa...Mumma!

"Enough! I am sick of it now", I scream and slam the door of my room, closing all the three latches one after the other. Sulking, I hit the sack. No amount of mollycoddling would pacify me this time. In a fit of vengeance, I swear, "Come what may, this time I'll have it my way, no matter how much it hurts you".

My mother keeps pleading with me to open the door. But I give a damn. After a few minutes of repeated banging, she heads towards the kitchen. It's dinner time and dad would be here any moment. I hear the pressure cooker's whistle blow. A minute later, another blow. A few more seconds, and this time it's a loud 'thud'. I spring from the bed, jump towards the door, my heart racing. I know what has happened but I pray that I am wrong. I rush towards the kitchen and as soon as I am about to witness what my eyes just refuse to see, I open my eyes wide open, "Thank God, it's just a dream!"

There are moments in life when we actually 'real-eyes' the importance of our near and dear ones. How much they mean to us and how incomplete we would be without them. I have always been a problem child for my parents. No, I wasn't a spoiled kid. But I have always had tough time expressing myself or better put, conveying myself the right way. Mom had to struggle, try everything to get to the root and understand what was on my mind. Today, almost ten years away from home, if there is anyone who can understand me, even without me having to say a word, it's my mom. And the dream I just mentioned was an eye opener for me. A realization, how much she means to me. It's such an irony, that people who care for us the most, who love us the most are the ones who are the first to be taken for granted by us. We do care about them or should I say we feel that we care for them. But in reality, we just think of them, miss them, talk to them and get on with our lives. This dream shook me. When I woke up, I was crying and I cried a river. That one moment in my dream when I felt that I had lost my mom, redefined me. "I am because of my mom and I owe my existence to her."

This blog is both a confession and a thanksgiving to my mom. And I get the inspiration to write about it from Sony's Jhalak Dikhla Ja dance performance by Sushaant. His mystical performance to the tunes of  A.R. Rehman's "luka chhupi bohat hui" created a pathos that literally gave me goose bumps and I could not help but open my heart writing this blog.

Since childhood, I have always been pampered by all except my mother. She is a tough lady. As a child, if there was anybody who could ever dare to slap me or even shout at me, it was my mom. And when she did that, I would run to my grand mother, crying, complaining (basically, creating a mountain out of a mole hill) and when she would scold my mom I would say "1 all". What a devil I was!

Being the elder of the two kids, most of the times I had to suffer for all the mischiefs that my brother did. I hated it when mom said,"The bigger you are growing, the smaller your brain is becoming" . But being the devil I was, I used to speak in my mind, in retaliation, "The older you are growing, the crazier you are going".What impudence!

In my early teens, mom suddenly became a trainer instructing me on everything that I did. I used to boil with rage when I had to make chapatis for dinner. Not that she was lazy or we didn't have a domestic help, but to imbibe in me a sense of responsibility and ingrain qualities that a typical Indian girl is expected to possess. I hated it, because that was 'prime time' on TV and I had to miss few of my favorite shows! I used to deliberately burn a few rotis, hoping that she would not like dad being served coal and carbon after a long busy day in office and would relieve me from the duty. How cunning I was!

But had it not been for her toughness, I would have been a complete brat. If there is a bit whiff of feminine touch to my otherwise tomboyish looks and ways, it is because of my mom. She has always expressed her love and affection in subtle ways. I never went off to bed without a lullaby. As I grew up, the lullabies were substituted first by bhajans then by  poetry and later by soft soothing songs. Today, if there is anything that gives me peace after my mom's embrace is music. She used to scold me but she was the one who used to fight for me with the neighbors...I was always breaking flower pots with my sixes and other kids were always cribbing for the balls that flew out of our compound into other territories to be gone for ever :-D

Be it the flair for writing, music, sports, painting, any thing, all comes to me genetically from my mom. She is the real owner. Her perseverance, her dexterity, her gumption are worth emulating. A beautiful lady, with a beautiful heart and soul, she is someone you can never forget. She is one amazing woman whose presence and absence are equally felt. No doubt she has a huge fan following:)

I am sorry mom, sorry for having troubled you as a child. Sorry for not having listened to you at times.Sorry for making you cry too but I promise, will never ever hurt you again, knowingly or unknowingly. You are my God, and will forever be!

Thank you mom for world so sweet
Thank you mom for food I eat
Thank you mom for world that sings
Thank you mom for everything

तू मेरी रूह में बसी है,
मेरा हर कतरा है तेरा कर्ज़दार
तेरा ही टुकड़ा हूँ
तुने ही मुझे संवारा है
ज़िन्दगी की मुश्किल राहों में
तेरी ही सीख का सहारा है
हर कोई चाहता है छीनना
नीयत है कहाँ बांटने की
लड़ झगड़ कट कर जीते हैं लोग
एक तू है जो देते थकती नहीं.

माँ तुझे सलाम!